Latest news with #HB152
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
State sales tax on diapers, formula, feminine hygiene products ends Sept. 1
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — Governor Kay Ivey signed a new bill Friday that was well-timed for Mother's Day weekend. The measure ends state sales taxes on several items purchased by expectant and new mothers, and it ends the state's tax on feminine hygiene products. Cybersecurity event affecting some state systems in Alabama The 4% state sales tax cut will go into effect Sept. 1. That's the same day Alabama will cut the state sales tax on groceries by another cent, down to 2%. The measure does not address city and county sales taxes. Those cuts would have to take place on the local level. Products that will be exempt from state sales tax starting Sept. 1 include baby bottles, formula, breast pumps and related products. Also, diapers, baby wipes and maternity clothing will be exempt from state sales taxes. The tax cut will also apply to menstrual hygiene products. Ivey issued the following statement after signing the bill that was sponsored by Alabama Rep. Neil Rafferty, D-Birmingham. 'Alabama is proudly the most pro-life state in America, and we remain committed to doing all we can to support our moms. As we head into Mother's Day weekend, I am excited to sign HB152 for all of our Alabama moms,' Ivey said. Along with the grocery tax cut and the measure Ivey signed Friday, this year the Alabama Legislature also approved a family leave measure for teachers and updated the state's Medicaid law to ensure low-income pregnant women can see a doctor in the first trimester of their pregnancy. Rep. Dale Strong provides Washington Update at Athens State University Robyn Hyden is the executive director of Alabama Arise, a non-partisan coalition that advocates for low-income and working families in Alabama. Hyden said this year the legislature took a number of positive steps on behalf of women and low-income families.'Personally, I think this demonstrates when one party is in power and is governing, they do have to bring home real support for their voters,' she said. 'You can only do so much, you know, that gives away to your big donors or corporate interests, before voters start to ask, how is this any different? How is my life better? I think whoever is governing in our state or in D.C., they're going to have to make the case that they have meaningfully helped their voters.' You can read the bill Ivey signed Friday, House Bill 152, below. HB152-baby and feminine product taxDownload The state legislature will meet again on Wednesday. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
College students advocate for menstrual tax exemption at Alabama Statehouse
The Alabama State House in Montgomery, Alabama as seen on July 10, 2023. College students came to the Statehouse Tuesday to push for a bill removing sales tax from menstrual products. (Stew Milne for Alabama Reflector) Rhianna Rinderkincht, a 20-year-old student at the University of Alabama, said she often struggles to make the choice between buying groceries and menstrual products. 'I'm pretty much financially independent, so money gets tight, and those things are expensive to begin with,' Rinderkincht said in an interview. Rinderkincht was at the Alabama State House with the Alabama chapter of United for Reproductive and Gender Equity (URGE) on Tuesday meeting with legislators in support of HB 152, sponsored by Rep. Neil Rafferty, D-Birmingham. The legislation would remove state sales tax on menstrual products, baby formula, maternity clothing and other related products. It passed the House in March and awaits approval from the Senate. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, attempted to pass similar legislation last year, but it did not get a vote in the House. Alabama is one of 20 states that tax period products, according to the Alliance for Period Supplies. 'People shouldn't have to choose between groceries and period products or groceries and baby formula,' Rinderkincht said. URGE also advocated against SB 277, sponsored by Sen. Shay Shelnutt, R-Trussville, that centers sex education in Alabama on abstinence until marriage. According to a University of Washington study, abstinence-only-until-marriage programs do not improve teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases or infections. 'If that's something that you want to do, that is totally fine. However, you should be giving people enough information to make informed choices,' said Sylvia Glenn, a 21-year-old student at UA, in an interview. The pair and other student advocates with URGE met with lawmakers to express their support for the tax exemption on menstrual products. Although Rinderkincht and Glenn are not originally from Alabama, they said the policies will still affect them while they are in the state for school. 'This is me trying to give myself a little education about what it does look like to show up and to represent my district. I mean, our representatives are representing us, but also the other way around, how I can do my piece and advocate for myself in my community,' Glenn said. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Alabama House approves tax exemption on baby formula, maternity clothing, hygiene products
Rep. Neil Rafferty, D-Birmingham, speaks to the House Ways and Means Education Committee on March 19, 2025, at the Alabama State House in Montgomery, Alabama. The House of Representatives unanimously passed Rafferty's bill that would exempt baby products and menstrual hygiene products from state sales tax on March 20, 2025. (Anna Barrett/Alabama Reflector) The Alabama House of Representatives unanimously passed its fifth tax cut of the week Thursday with an exemption for baby products and menstrual hygiene products. HB 152, sponsored by Rep. Neil Rafferty, D-Birmingham, exempts baby formula, maternity clothing and menstrual hygiene products from state sales tax. Although the legislation passed unanimously, Rep. Mary Moore, D-Birmingham, said she was concerned about what clothes would be considered 'maternity.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX 'I'm not being critical. That's their choice,' Moore said of people who have 'restrictive' maternity clothes. 'What you consider to be maternity clothing may not be what they want to wear.' Rep. Ginny Shaver, R-Leesburg, offered an amendment to the bill expanding the exemption to adult diapers. It was adopted unanimously. 'You know I'm all about women, children and seniors,' she said to Rafferty on the floor. 'I have an amendment to include seniors with diapers.' The legislation would take $10.5 million dollars from the Education Trust Fund (ETF) before Shaver's amendment, but Rafferty said the amendment adds an additional $2.5 million in tax cuts. The ETF is $9.2 billion this year. Rep. Danny Garrett, R-Trussville, sponsored the tax passage that passed Tuesday. He supported the fifth tax cut for a majority of Alabamians. The four-bill package that passed Tuesday will reduce the ETF by $192 million. 'An additional $13 million in tax breaks for a broadbase of Alabamians,' he said. House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, applauded the tax cut after the House adjourned Thursday. 'We had five tax cuts this week alone,' Ledbetter said. 'So the people of Alabama are going to start seeing relief that they hadn't had, and certainly we're proud to be able to do that.' The bill now goes to the Senate. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Utah lawmakers want to raise the standards for freestanding emergency rooms around Utah
A bill that would set robust requirements for free-standing emergency rooms across the Wasatch Front advanced through the House Health and Human Services Committee on Tuesday. Sponsored by Rep. Katy Hall, R-South Ogden, HB152 sets requirements for the amount of staff and lists certain equipment that freestanding emergency rooms across the state need to have. 'These are the standards that we came up with in the bill and and we think and hope that it's going to increase the public safety increase awareness that these are great places to go,' Hall said. 'If you have an emergency, you can feel confident in where you're going, that's what we're working towards.' These free standing, or satellite, emergency departments are health care facilities that provide emergency or critical care away from a main hospital campus that are operated under the license of the parent hospital. Hall said that as more of these facilities are created in Utah, many of them do not have the necessary staff or equipment to provide proper emergency care. 'I feel like Utah has a chance to decide what we want our emergency care to be, and we have a duty to the public and consumer trust,' Hall said. This bill sets specific requirements for freestanding emergency rooms in first and second class counties around Utah. It requires these facilities to have at least two registered nurses, a respiratory therapist and a lab technician. Specific equipment to provide services such as CT scans, X-rays and sonograms are also required. The number of satellite emergency rooms in Utah is growing, and the bill sets limitations to how many one hospital can have. If the bill passes, any facilities that do not meet these requirements will not be able to identify themselves as providing emergency or critical care services. This bill will also make it so emergency departments are more transparent and identifiable, including signage that says patients will have to pay emergency room prices. This is meant help those who don't necessarily need an emergency room, especially because of the cost of emergency care. If patients are experiencing something that isn't truly an emergency then they can go to an Instacare for a lower cost, Hall said. 'Medical care is so expensive a person without insurance can go bankrupt from a single visit, and when that's needed, that's what's needed, but the person needs to know what they're choosing,' said Rep. Raymond Ward, R-Bountiful. Hall started working on this bill last year after she was approached by a physician at one of these freestanding emergency departments. This constituent shared with her some of the issues that are seen at these departments, including them being understaffed and not having all the necessary equipment for emergency care providers to properly do their jobs. 'His position was, this is not allowing us to do our job to the best of our abilities as emergency physicians,' Hall said. During the committee hearing, Rae Shelley Larsen, a nurse at one of these facilities shared her personal experience and why she thinks these changes are needed. 'I am concerned about safety with our staffing and giving our patients the best care, it is a safety issue,' Larsen said. She shared that without the necessary staff she ends up doing the jobs of a lab tech and a respiratory therapist, both of which she is not fully trained or qualified to do, on top of being a nurse. 'We love the work that we do in our community, and we understand and our community loves us. They come to us and they trust us, and I'm afraid that trust that they've been giving us that we are going to not be able to uphold that trust in our community that we have established,' Larsen said. Hall first started working on this bill over a year ago. It was introduced in last year's legislative session and after passing through the House if was stopped in the Senate. She said that she worked hard over the interim to make the necessary changes to please all the stakeholders and get this bill through. 'It's tough when you have something that you're passionate about and that you know is for the public good not pass,' Hall said. 'But at the same time, that just makes me want to try even harder to make something happen and come up with the right policy.' Hall shared that she worked hard over the year, meeting with physicians, nurses and hospital administrators as well as visiting facilities from all four hospital systems, in order to prepare the bill for this legislative session. She pointed out that she had to make a few compromises and concessions to get all the stakeholders on board with the bill. One of these necessary changes was that if a facility cannot get a respiratory therapist that position can be filled by someone else with respiratory training such as an EMT. 'There are lots of things that she's required in this field that just makes sense, and the ones that didn't we were able to find compromise, and I think we've gotten everything that we need,' said Francis Gibson with the Utah Hospital Association.
